Categories

Archives

Most policies pay when you need help with two of six activities of daily living or you are cognitively impaired. And most have a waiting period of 60 or 90 days. By Kimberly Lankford , Contributing Editor When does a long-term-care insurance policy start to pay out? What are the benefit triggers, and how long do I have to wait before the benefits kick in? SEE ALSO: Do You Have a Plan in Place for Long-Term Care? Most long-term-care insurance policies require two kinds of benefit triggers before they’ll pay – either you need help with two out of six activities of living (which generally include bathing, dressing, toileting, eating, transferring and continence) or you have severe cognitive impairment. Your doctor usually needs to fill out a form with the details, and the insurer may ask for additional medical records or may require a cognitive screening to verify impairment, says Mike Ashley, owner of Senior Benefits Consultants, in Prairie Village, Kan. Most long-term-care policies then have a 60- or 90-day waiting period before benefits kick in, or another time period you chose when you bought the policy (called the “elimination period”). In most cases, the same waiting period applies to any type of care you receive, whether it’s in your home, an assisted-living facility or a nursing home.